Travel updates: Mexico City cleans up its air

Breathe easier in Mexico City

Slowly and steadily, Mexico City is cleaning up its air. A haze still covers the city, and ozone levels are often unhealthy. But the capital is no longer the smog-choked city of two decades ago, to the relief of residents and tourists.

Mexico City's air pollution reached its nadir in 1991, when the city chalked up only eight days with air quality below hazardous levels. In contrast, this year is setting a record — 193 days with adequate to good air quality through early December

Years of pollution-fighting have made the difference. Private cars, which must pass emissions tests every six months, are kept off city roads at least one day a week. Authorities have mandated a reduction of lead and sulfur in fuels. And the heaviest polluting of the city's 50,000 factories have been relocated.

New Seattle-Frankfurt flights

Travel to Europe could get cheaper next summer when Condor Airlines, a no-frills German airline, begins twice-weekly, nonstop service between Seattle and Frankfurt.

Condor (formerly Thomas Cook Airline) will fly on Mondays and Thursdays to and from Frankfurt, starting June 23, with connections to other cities in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. A check on its website showed a round-trip fare of $946 for a flight departing June 23 and returning July 11.

Airlines avoid major tarmac delays

October was the first month in which no planes were stuck on the ground for more than three hours since the data was first collected in 2008, said the U.S. Department of Transportation in a recent report. The government earlier this year imposed stiff fines on airlines that keep passengers stranded on the tarmac for more than three hours.

Overall, more flights were on time in October compared with a year ago. The on-time rate for the nation's largest airlines was 83.8 percent, up from 77.3 percent in the same month last year. Fewer flights were on-time than in September of this year, when the rate was 85.1 percent.

Hawaii hotels slowly filling back up

Hotels are fuller in Hawaii compared with a year ago, although average room rates declined slightly. Statewide hotel occupancy averaged almost 70.9 percent in October, an increase of 4.5 percentage points over the same month last year, said a report by Hospitality Advisors LLC. The average daily room rate across the state was $163.52, representing a 0.7 percent decrease from October 2009.

The good, bad and ugly of airline food

For fliers who worry about their waistlines instead of their bottom lines, a public health advocate is weighing in on the nutrition of airline food.

Charles Stuart Platkin, a college professor and editor of DietDetective.com, has rated the snacks and meals offered by the nation's largest airlines.

United Airlines ranked highest on Platkin's list. He praised its turkey sandwich, chicken Caesar salad, fruit tray and yogurt parfait.

Platkin gave US Airways his lowest ratings, saying its French toast sandwich breakfast box is "very high in calories and offers little in terms of nutrition."

— Seattle Times staff and news services